National budget 4.27.09

Monday

Apr 27, 2009 at 12:01 AMApr 27, 2009 at 9:09 AM

GateHouse News Service National Budget
For 4/27/09 editions

Here are the top national stories coming today from GateHouse News Service. Stories are available at http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/. Please submit stories below no later than 6 pm local time, unless you have breaking news that is changing significantly.

MOTHER'S DAY CONTENT: Check out our package of Mother's Day content. We will add new stories to the top of the file as they come in. If you have a Mother's Day story that would work on a national scale, please send it to us via Zope or by e-mailing it to national@gatehousemedia.com. http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/features/x1092983269/Mothers-Day-2009-content

LOCALIZATION TIP: Explore how craft beer has been affected by the economy (hint: it’s not bad news for a change).
http://ghnewsroom.com/article/news-service-localization-tip-craft-beer

Lifestyles

MORNING MINUTES: This includes a little “today in history,” as well as Word of the Day, Web Site of the Day and Number to Know. http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/lifestyle/morning_minutes

SWINE FLU: Q&A on swine flu from the CDC, with tips on how to stay healthy. http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/features/x1092985374/Swine-flu-Q-A

HEALTH WATCH: What you should know about swine flu - Weekly health rail, with items on swine influenza, safety tips for moms-to-be, news about teen marijuana use, and more.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/homepage/x718271572/Health-Watch-What-you-should-know-about-swine-flu

PET TALK: Some compulsive disorders in dogs are serious
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/lifestyle/x718270031/

COLLEGE KIDS LIVING AT HOME: Some college grads plan to live with parents to save money. Home with mom and dad may not be where their heart is, but it’s where many college seniors are headed after graduation next month. With unemployment rates spiking and companies reluctant to hire, many college seniors are facing the prospect of graduating without a job and moving home to save money. ENTERPRISE
To localize: Speak to college seniors from your local colleges. Will they be living with their parents to save money? Speak to college career counselors -- what have they heard from grads-to-be?
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/lifestyle/youth/x718270807/

Entertainment

SUDOKU: May puzzles (309-336) are now posted: http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/puzzles/x360589249/Sudoku-puzzles-309-336-May-puzzles
-- You can find links to previous puzzles in this package, or go to the main Puzzles category: http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/puzzles

SUMMER MOVIE PREVIEW: Hollywood’s blockbuster season kicks off with
big-budget action. History has shown us that when the economy is down, movie receipts are up – way up. And Hollywood is fully prepared to take advantage with a summer line-up that offers a little something for everyone. LEDGER/ Alexander
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/entertainment/movies/x718270347/

MUSICIAN PROFILE: Eilen Jewell a rising Americana star - Eilen Jewell’s latest album, “Sea of Tears,” released Tuesday on Signature Sounds, resembles a tear-in-your-beer night in a honky tonk – specifically a rock ’n’ roll-tinged honky tonk circa 1965. It is a bit of a departure from the sound of her previous album, but should continue to make the Cambridge, Mass.-based songwriter one of the fastest rising stars in Americana music.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/entertainment/music/x297238459/

Opinions

O’MAHONEY CARTOON: New spin on Bring Your Child to Work Day
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/opinions/cartoons/x303481661/

PETER COSTA: Spring and the sound of tweets - Birds are chirping, whistling, hooting, cawing, peeping and twittering (in an analog way). It is a lovely and natural symphony. But for years I couldn’t hear it. My next-door neighbor would drown out the birds with his constant cell phone sales calls made outdoors. CNC
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/east/massachusetts/x1092985434/Peter-Costa-Spring-and-the-sound-of-tweets

EDITORIAL: May the truth set us free on torture debate - Sometimes Americans seem to look at torture with all the detachment of watching an episode of TV's "24," rooting from their recliners for Jack Bauer to come to the rescue against the bad guys who are as bad as bad can be. There's no place in prime time for doubt or moral confusion, which is exactly the way most of us like it. No disturbing the comfort zone. Unfortunately, real life is rarely so accommodating. An editorial from the Peoria Journal Star.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/opinions/editorials/x1092985621

EDITORIAL: Have 9/11-style panel investigate torture - President Barack Obama was right to release the Bush administration memos authorizing the torture of suspected terrorists, but he has yet to lead the country to the right way to reckon with what was done. An editorial from the Springfield State Journal-Register.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/opinions/editorials/x1092985624

EDITORIAL: Craigslist is not a killer
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/opinions/editorials/x126912374/

EDITORIAL: Time for some Internet leaders to grow up
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/opinions/editorials/x297238634/

EDITORIAL: Blagojevich needs honest reality, not the TV kind - Rod Blagojevich won't be taking his increasingly tired shtick on tour abroad, thanks to a ruling last week from the federal judge in his corruption trial. Prosecutors weren't convinced that sending a guy charged with 16 felonies out into the wild was the greatest idea. Right they were. An editorial from the Peoria Journal Star.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x50633378

TRANSPORTATION SECTY: Three months into his job as transportation secretary, Ray LaHood, a Republican, says he feels like he’s “a full partner” in the Obama administration. The former Congressman from Peoria is at the forefront of the administration's battle to turn around the American economy. PEORIA
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/features/x126914773

HONEST ABE & CANNED FOOD: Teams use canned food to build masterpieces - – Abraham Lincoln’s image is common throughout Springfield, but this week, three large sculptures pay homage to the 16th president with a twist — a reproduction made from canned foods. The displays at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library are part of a Canstruction food drive, which is a nationwide design and construction competition. Teams of architects, engineers and students compete to design structures entirely from full cans of food. SPRINGFIELD http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x297240947

LINCOLN SITES MODELS: Models of Lincoln sites now downloadable - The opportunity to have a micro-version of a Lincoln site in your home, office or school will cost you only an afternoon, some printer ink and a few pieces of card stock paper. The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency is launching a program that will allow anyone to re-create three-dimensional Lincoln sites by printing cutouts and instructions from a Web site. Currently, six models are available. More will be added throughout the year. SPRINGFIELD
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x126914687

ROCKY’S POST OFFICE: And on this corner, Brockton’s Rocky Marciano Post Office Building - Rocky Marciano Jr., the son of boxing legend Rocky Marciano, joined hundreds of people for the dedication of the Rocky Marciano Post Office Building in Brockton on Sunday. Enterprise, with photos
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/east/massachusetts/x1092985421/And-on-this-corner-Brockton-s-Rocky-Marciano-Post-Office-Building

Business / Ag

BIZ BITS: Weekly business rail, with a look at Smartphones, BBB warning about loans and more. http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/news/business/x1092980641/Biz-Bits-Smartphones-from-geeky-luxury-to-money-saving-necessity

CRAFT BEER SALES ON THE RISE: Craft beer sales continue to rise even as the beer industry feels the pinch from frugal consumer spending and higher costs. LEDGER
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/news/business/x126912565/
To localize: Speak with craft brewers in your state or region. Are they still seeing good business? Speak with beer distributors for their perspective. Sidebar idea: Speak with beer drinkers who focus on craft beers and microbrews. Have they changed their purchasing patterns due to the economy?

LAID OFF? TRY VOLUNTEERING - Volunteering hones skills, gives chance to network– When Debbie Crozier was laid off in January from insurance company Williams-Manny, she didn’t wait long before joining the ranks of volunteers at the Rock River Valley Pantry. With the local unemployment rate at 13.5 percent in March, many local nonprofit groups are seeing a spike in the recently jobless coming through their doors to volunteer. Some, like Crozier, are there because they now have the time to donate. Others donate their professional skills to nonprofits to keep their skills honed, which also gives them something to put on an otherwise blank spot of their resumes. - ROCKFORD
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/news/business/x1092985682

NURSING JOBS? There's still need for nurses, just not right now - Brenda Echeverria is graduating from nursing school next month, and she’s worried about finding a job. Despite a nationwide nursing shortage, hospitals are tightening their belts in a struggling economy. And with an increase in competition, Echeverria may have to consider taking a job in another nursing field while she waits for a spot at a hospital to open. But just when the economic slump meant fewer nursing jobs, local nursing schools, which increased their enrollment numbers to meet the burgeoning demand, are fielding even more inquiries from unemployed workers looking to nursing as a second career. ROCKFORD .To localize: Are nurses in your area having a hard time finding work?
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x50633432